It is difficult to detect a pedestrian behind a stopped vehicle, which is in a blind area as seen from a driver of a running vehicle, using a radar or a camera for recognizing a front side of the running vehicle. There is proposed a vehicle warning system that can detect a target object such as a pedestrian that cannot be visually recognized by a driver as described above, and make the driver recognize a target object which may affect the running of the own vehicle (for example, refer to PTL 1 described below).
The vehicle warning system of PTL 1 requires a target object such as a pedestrian to carry a communication terminal. The communication terminal reports a position of the communication terminal itself to a vehicle warning apparatus mounted on a vehicle. The vehicle warning apparatus thereby identifies position information of the target object such as a pedestrian that carries the communication terminal. Then, based on position information of the own vehicle that has been detected by an own vehicle position detection means, and the size and position information of an object, such as a stopped vehicle positioned on the front side of the own vehicle in a travelling direction, which have been detected by an object detection means, the vehicle warning apparatus calculates a positional relationship between three, i.e., between the own vehicle, the object such as a stopped vehicle, and the target object such as a pedestrian. Then, if it is determined that the position of the target object such as a pedestrian that carries the communication terminal exists in a blind area behind the object such as a stopped vehicle positioned in the travelling direction of the own vehicle, the target object carrying the communication terminal is determined to be a warning target object. As a result, only the target object that cannot be visually recognized by the driver of the own vehicle is recognized as a warning target object, and a warning is issued to the driver.